The Miracle Before Christmas
by Michael Alan
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Connor Doyle and his team travel to a small ranch in Montana to investigate a little girl's claim that she saw an angel.


PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal ****

PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal

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"The Miracle Before Christmas"

**Prologue**

Dover, Montana – December 23, 1996

The evening night was cold and breezy. The ground was covered thickly with snow, and the clouds overhead said that more was on the way. Bob Haskings lifted the last bail of hay onto the pile and let out a sigh of relief. He stripped the gloves from his hands and tossed them onto the workbench and grabbed his thermos, then headed out.

He switched the light off and slid the large rolling door shut, then set off toward the house. The large two-story was fully decorated for the holiday. Strings of Christmas lights outlined the porch, roof and windows, with another set circling the tree in the front yard. Paper decorations hung in both upstairs and downstairs windows, and a wreath with flashing lights highlighted the front door. The Christmas tree was visible through the large window of the family room, lights blinking brightly.

As Bob came inside and took his jacket off, he heard his wife, Laura, say, "Just in time. Dinner's ready."

He rubbed his hands together as he walked toward the kitchen. "Good. I'm starving."

Their seven-year-old daughter, Jamie, was helping to set the table. "Hi, daddy," she said cheerfully.

"Hi, princess." He rubbed her head with his hand and took a seat. Laura came over and started filling the plates with chicken and rice, and they all sat down to eat. "Guess what, Jamie? When I was coming in I think I saw Santa Claus go by in his sleigh."

She looked at him in shock. "No way!"

Bob nodded with a smile. "Yes, way. I think he was scouting for places to land tomorrow night.

That made Jamie giggle, and Bob and Laura smiled at each other.

Later, the Haskings family was sound asleep. The breeze had picked up a bit, rustling the trees that surrounded the house. The snow started again around one in the morning, and it was little after one-thirty that light suddenly poured in through Jamie's bedroom window. She awoke as the light fell onto her face. She climbed out from under the covers and leaned over to the window, looking out. A smile grew across her face.

As the light began to move toward the front of the house, Jamie scrambled down off her bed, eased the door open, and quietly stepped down the hall. She crept past the door to her parents' room, looking in to make sure they were still asleep. They were. She hurried down the stairs in the dark, holding both rails. The light moved around the corner of the house and into the front yard.

Jamie reached the front door and undid the locks, stepping out onto the porch. She smiled again as she looked at the source of the light. She hurried down the steps and into the yard. The entire front of the house was lit brightly. Jamie walked as far out as the gate and climbed up onto it. She looked up, smiling as the light bathed her face.

"Are you an angel?" she asked.

**Act 1**

December 24 – Day 1, 9:15 Hours

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Case file 245-416; Case Manager Connor Doyle reporting. Initial log entry. We've just arrived outside the small town of Dover, Montana, where a little girl has claimed to have seen an angel at her home. Our objective is to first rule out the possibility of a hoax, and, if possible, get video documentation if the event occurs again.

The Suburban made its way down the snow-covered road, a bouncy ride that rocked all the passengers. "If it's not rain it's snow," Peter Axon complained as he steered the vehicle on.

Connor Doyle sat in the passenger seat beside him. From the backseat, Lindsay Donnor said, "Come on, Peter. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"It's back in California where it's nice and warm."

He pulled up in front of the house and parked, and they climbed out. The front door opened as they came through the gate and into the yard. Bob Haskings came down the steps to greet them. "Hi there," he said cheerfully, holding his hand out. "Bob Haskings."

They all exchanged handshakes. "I'm Connor Doyle, this is Peter Axon and Lindsay Donnor. We're with the Office of Scientific Investigation and Research. What can you tell us about the event?"

"Well, Jamie said she woke up in the middle of the night and saw a light coming in her bedroom window. It started moving around the house, so she came out to see what it was. She says it was an angel."

"What do you think it might have been?" Lindsay asked.

Bob shrugged. "I don't know. Jamie's very rarely lied or made things up before, so I don't see any reason why she would start doing it now."

"Do you mind if we see Jamie?" Connor asked. "We like to get her version of what happened on videotape."

"Sure, no problem. Right this way." He turned and lead them up the walk to the porch.

"Nice place you got here," Peter commented as they climbed the steps.

"Thanks. It was really rundown when we bought it. Had to practically rebuild it, it needed so much work." He lead them inside, where he introduced them to Laura. She was sitting on the living room couch, reading a story to Jamie. "Jamie," her dad said, "these people are here to--"

"Are you here to find the angel?" she asked.

Connor had to smile at the little girl's enthusiasm. "Something like that," he said.

"They want to talk to about you what you saw," Bob said.

Jamie stood on the couch. "She was beautiful," she said. "She really was an angel, you know."

Lindsay said, "Well, that's what we're here to find out."

"You wanna see my room?"

"Sure."

"Okay." She climbed off the couch and took Lindsay by the hand, leading her toward the stairs. "Follow me."

Connor turned to Bob. "Mr. Haskings, we'd like to set up our mobile office in the area across from the house if that's alright."

"That's fine."

"Have the others start the set-up," he told Peter, then turned back. "We'd like to stay as close to the house as possible incase there's another sighting."

"Of course."

"Is there anything you can tell us about Jamie that might help? Does she have an active imagination?"

Bob crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, she does to a degree. I mean, most of the time it's just imaginary friends, pretend jobs; all last week she pretended she was a cowgirl. But she always knows they're not real and just plays along with it. But this . . . this she seems convinced that it _is_ real. That it really did happen."

Laura stood and walked over. "You're going to prove whether or not it did happen, though, right? That's what you're here for, aren't you?"

"Don't worry," Connor told them reassuringly. "We'll do everything we can to find out if your daughter really did see an angel."

Upstairs, Lindsay was sitting on the edge of Jamie's bed as the little girl showed her everything. "This is a teddy bear my Grandma got me for my birthday last year. I call him Smooches." She giggled at the name, and added, "Smooches is silly. He's always falling off his shelf. Do you like my room?"

"Yes, I do," Lindsay said. "It reminds me of my room when I was a little girl."

"Did you like boys when you were my age?"

"No, not really," she answered playfully.

"Me, neither. I think they're yucky."

Lindsay laughed at the little girl's personality, so cheerful and playful. "Jamie, can we talk about what you saw?"

"Sure." She was preoccupied by the dolls atop her dresser, which she went about rearranging.

"What did you see outside last night?"

"I saw an angel."

"Can you describe her?"

"Mm-hm. She was floating in the air, and she was glowing. Kind of gold-colored. She was wearing a long white dress."

"How about her face? Did you see her face?"

Jamie nodded, switching the resting places of two dolls. "She was very pretty. I couldn't see what color her eyes were, but her hair was long, a little longer than your's, and it was blond like your's."

"Did the angel say anything to you?"

Jamie shook her head. "Nope."

"Did she reach out to you in any way, or try to communicate with you?"

Again, she shook her head. "Nope. She just floated there for a while and then disappeared." After a moment, she turned with a doll in her hand and asked, "Are you gonna find her?"

"We're going to try."

****

9:45 Hours

The team was assembled at the Round Table, now joined by Anton Hendricks, who had been delayed and had just arrived moments before. "The little girl is convinced she saw an angel," Connor explained. "Both parents say she's very rarely lied to them before and don't know why she would start now."

Lindsay said, "They did say she has a pretty active imagination, but that she normally is aware that her invisible friends and such aren't real, but just plays along with it."

"And Mr. Haskings said she's been known to sleepwalk," Connor added. "If she didn't really see an angel but just thinks she did, sleepwalking would explain how she got outside."

"Is there any trouble in the home that might be going on?" Anton asked. "Perhaps the parents arguing has made her feel neglected, so she's created another imaginary friend, this time an angel, to gain attention?"

Connor shook his head. "I'm not sure about domestic disputes, but I don't want to confront them with it right away. Lindsay, check with the neighbors in the immediate area. See if the Haskings have a known history of arguments."

"I'm on it." She left the room.

"Peter, how are your environmentals coming along?"

"Preliminary reports are clean, but I've still got more tests to run."

"Okay. I'm sorry for pulling you down here, Peter. I know we usually get Christmas Eve off, but HQ insisted we check this out. I know you wanted to see your family again, but I needed my best men."

"Well, there's always next Christmas," Peter said, half-cheerful, and left the room.

Connor and Anton looked at each other. They both knew Peter wasn't entirely happy to be there.

An hour later, Peter was running some of his tests in the front yard when Anton came up. They were bother decked out in cold-weather gear: heavy boots, thick jackets, and gloves. "Anything?"

Peter shook his need. "Nothing yet," he replied, walking around the yard with his reading device held out.

"Hmm."

"What is it, Anton?"

"I just noticed that there's a light pole over there by the barn."

"And?"

"Well, Connor said that Mr. Haskings mentioned Jamie has a history of sleepwalking. So if she was sleepwalking last night and came out here . . . I imagine it's pretty dark out here at night, so the light probably shines brightly. Seeing the light and her still being half-asleep, her imagination might have just made it up for her."

"It's a possibility," Peter said, turning back to his testing.

"I think I'll have a talk with Connor about regressing her," he said, and left Peter to his tests.

Anton found Connor in the mobile lab, going over a file of papers. "Connor."

"What is it, Anton?"

"I was outside and saw that there's a light pole near the barn. Now, assuming that Jamie was sleepwalking last night, it's possible that she might have seen that light, and her imagination just did the rest for her and formed an angel in her mind. But since she's convinced that she saw an angel, a regression might prove that she did, in fact, see just a light."

Connor was quiet, obviously thinking. Then he closed the file and laid it on the desk. "Let me talk to the parents first," he said, "and assure them that regressing Jamie, under these circumstances, will be fine."

"Right."

Bob Haskings was inside the barn, chopping up firewood from a large pile he kept inside out of the snow. "Mr. Haskings," Connor said as he came in.

"Yeah. What can I do for you?" He pulled another log over and stood it up, then grabbed the ax.

"I'd like to talk to you about something really quick."

"Go ahead," he said, and cut the wood in half with one swing. "What about?"

"With your permission, we'd like to regress Jamie."

"Regress?"

"It's a scientific term for making somebody's subconscious recall previous events much more clearly than they could on their own. Hypnosis, so to speak."

"Ah." He pulled around another log and stood it. "Is there any pain involved?"

Connor shook his head. "No. None whatsoever. Jamie will just close her eyes and our Chief of Medicine will start the regression by talking to her and getting her to relax. That will, in turn, open her subconscious, and she'll be able to recall the events of last night. It could really help us in our investigation."

"Well, if it goes as smoothly as you say it should, by all means. Go ahead."

"Thank you. You and your wife are welcome to watch to you'd feel more comfortable."

Bob considered for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I think that'd be good. Especially for my wife. She had to go to town really quick, but she should be back soon."

"Okay. We're ready to start, so just bring Jamie to the mobile lab when you're ready."

"Will do," Bob said, and swung the ax, chopping the block in half as Connor left.

****

11:33 Hours

Peter was just finishing his last test as Connor walked up, the snow crunching under his boots. "Peter. Find anything yet?"

He shook his head, looking over the handheld device. "Nothing. No toxins, chemicals, or leaks of any kind. Nothing to suggest an unexplained phenomena occurred here last night. Did Anton regress the girl?"

"No, not yet. Mr. Haskings wants to wait until his wife gets back from town so they can watch. He just talked to her. She's on her way back. So you got nothing from your tests?"

"_I_ picked up nothing, but I've got the computers crunching the final numbers. We'll know the official results pretty quick."

They heard a truck engine and turned. One of the Suburbans was trudging down the snow-covered driveway, rocking side to side. It looked like a task that required great skill, but the driver appeared to have it under control. Peter said, "Guess Lindsay knows how to handle one of those, hu?"

Connor laughed and said, "Let me know the test results when they come in," then went to meet her.

Lindsay pulled beside the mobile lab as Connor walked up. "Find anything?" he asked as she climbed out.

"No." She walked around the truck and headed up the steps and into the lab with him. "Nearest neighbors are twenty miles South and twenty-five miles North. Neither of them have seen the Haskings in a few weeks, but neither of them could confirm any past incidents involving domestic disputes."

As they came into the entrance foyer, Lindsay noticed Anton was preparing the regression room. "Who's being regressed?"

"Anton wants to regress Jamie and find out what she really saw. There's a light by the barn outside. Anton thinks that if she was sleepwalking, she might have saw it, and her imagination just formed an angel in her mind."

They removed their heavy coats and stored them in their respective lockers. "Peter turn up anything with his environmentals?"

"Nothing right now, but the final numbers are still being tallied by the computers. We'll know the results soon."

****

12:13 Hours

Jamie was sitting in the regression chair as Anton placed the final vital sign monitor to her left temple, then adjusted some of the knobs on the readout screen. "Is it going to hurt?" she asked.

Anton smiled at her. "Not at all."

"What happens exactly?"

He sat down and put a hand on her's. "It'll be just like your asleep. You know how sometimes you're asleep and dreaming, but you can hear what's going on around you?"

"Uh-hu."

"That's exactly what it will be like. Are you ready?"

She nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. "Let's do it."

Connor stood outside the room with Bob and Laura. "How long will this take?" Laura asked, sounding concerned.

"Not sure," Connor said. "Shouldn't be too long, though. We just need to find out exactly what she saw, if it wasn't an angel."

Laura looked at him. "And what if it was?" It was obvious he didn't have an answer.

"Can you hear me, Jamie?" Anton asked quietly.

The little girl had her eyelids closed, and said, "Yes."

"Good. Now, I want you in your mind to go back to last night. Are you there?" She nodded. "Where are you?"

"I'm in my room. I'm sleeping. There's a light coming in through the window. I'm climb over and looking out."

"What do you see?"

"Just the bright light. Now it's moving, to the front of the house."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm going down the hallway, past mommy and daddy's room, and down the stairs. I'm in the living room, unlocking the door."

"Are you running into the front yard?"

"Yes. I can see it now. It's coming around from behind the trees."

"Jamie? Can you see the barn from where you are?"

"No. It's off to the side."

"Which direction?"

"Right." She gasped, and smiled. "There it is?"

"What are you doing, Jamie?"

"Climbing up onto the gate. It's hanging above me. She's beautiful. You should see it."

Moments later, Anton slid the door opened, and Jamie came out. "Can I go play in the snow, mom?"

"Sure. Go ahead. We'll be right there." She left before her mother had even finished.

Connor asked, "What did you find, Anton?"

"My theory that she was sleepwalking and saw the light outside the barn, which might have caused her imagination to, in a sense, play a trick on her, was wrong. According to Jamie, what she saw was, in fact, a real angel."

**Act 2**

14:45 Hours

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Case log update. Through regressive hypnosis, our Dr. Hendricks has come to the conclusion that Jamie Haskings did indeed see a real angel. We're still waiting for the final results of our environmental tests, and will be setting up video surveillance in the hopes that there is a repeat of the events.

Peter was crossing the yard towards the mobile lab when something hit him in the back. He turned to see Jamie standing in the snow, giggling. When she grabbed another handful of snow, Peter realized it was a snowball that had hit him. He smiled back, but as the little girl started packing another snowball in her hands, Peter reached for his own.

Both were ready at the same time, and they each launched their snowballs at the other. Peter got hit on the leg, and Jamie watched as his snowball sailed right over her head. "You throw too high," she giggled.

"You throw too hard," he said, reaching from another handful. And they went at it, throwing chunks of snow back and forth across the yard.

Laura was standing on the front porch with Lindsey, watching them play. "It's so nice to see her happy like that," she said.

"Yeah, Peter, too," Lindsay said, and they both laughed.

"You have kids?"

Lindsay laughed as she saw Peter get hit by yet another snowball. They heard Jamie giggle loudly. "Need help, Peter?" she hollered.

He looked toward the house and just smiled, shouting back, "No, I'm doing fine," only to turn back and have another snowball hit him in the shoulder.

"No, I don't have kids. Not yet, anyway."

"Would you like to have them?"

She thought for a moment. "I think eventually I would. I already know someone who would be a great father. But I don't think it'll happen for awhile, though."

Connor was just exiting from the mobile lab when a snowball hit the wall beside him, less than three feet away. Peter and Jamie started laughing. Connor just smiled to himself as he descended the steps and came towards them.

"Oh-oh," Jamie said as he approached.

Peter gave her a playful pat on the head. "Oh, it's alright. You better run along."

"By Petey," she said as she hurried back to the house.

"Having fun?" Connor asked as he came up.

Peter laughed. "Ah, she just wanted someone to play with."

"You have the final results of your environmentals?"

"Yeah. Absolutely nothing. I had the computer automatically run the numbers twice simultaneously just incase, and we got nothing."

"With all the stuff we've been discovering, I'm beginning to think she really did see an angel. And Anton's hypnosis and your environmentals help support it."

"We still need more substantial evidence to prove it, though."

"Right. Set up some night-vision surveillance around the property, concentrating on the front yard. Maybe we'll get lucky and last night's event will happen again."

"I'll get right on it."

Lindsay stood in the kitchen with Laura as she washed the dishes from lunch, a rag tucked into the waistband of her pants. Lindsay looked out the window. The backyard wasn't a yard at all: it was just a wide open field among the trees. A picnic table was covered with a tarp for the winter, and a barbecue grill and chairs were against the side of the house. "This is some beautiful country you live in," Lindsay said. 

Laura smiled. "Thanks. Yes, it is. I love it up here."

"Have you lived in Montana all your life?"

She shook her head, drying a pot. "No. I used to live San Francisco. I met Bob about ten years ago, and we instantly fell in love. We got married about two years later, and on our one year anniversary we moved here. We spent weeks looking for a place and were just about to give up and look elsewhere when someone showed us this place. We loved it. So we bought it, renovated the house, added another room, and that's it."

"Must get really quiet up here."

"Yes. Quiet and relaxing. It's so nice being able to leave your doors and windows open without hearing police sirens, car horns, dogs barking; all that. It's so nice up here. How are you coming along with your investigation?"

"A lot of our tests have come back negative. We haven't found anything that suggests what happened was fake."

"So, she really did see an angel?"

Lindsay shook her head. "We still don't know. In our field, we keep an open mind until we're proved right or wrong either way. We're setting up some night-vision camera units around the house for tonight. Connor hopes that, if what happened last night was real that, it might happen again tonight, and so we need to be prepared."

As Laura turned back to the dishes, Lindsay looked at the pictures held to the refrigerator door by colorful magnets. One picture caught her attention. It was a family photo, with Laura standing behind Jamie, and Bob standing beside her, his hands on the shoulder of a young boy in front of him. "May I ask who this is?" she said, gesturing at the picture.

Laura turned, and Lindsay say the expression on her face. "Oh." She wiped her hands on the towel as she walked over. "That's our son, John."

"Is he somewhere else for the holiday?"

Laura seemed to hesitate. "He's . . . dead."

"Oh. I had no idea. I'm sorry."

"Thanks. Yeah, he passed away a year ago."

"At Christmas time? That must have been so painful."

"It was."

"Was he sick?"

"No. He and his father were coming back from town, and there was an accident. John was hurt more seriously than Bob and he had to be hospitalized. Three days before Christmas he just seemed to get worse and worse and . . . he passed away that night."

"That's awful." But Laura seemed lost, as if distracted by something. "Mrs. Haskings?"

"I, I just realized something?"

"What is it?"

Laura looked at her. "The night John died, he said something to Jamie that . . . I think I know why she saw an angel."

Within minutes, Lindsay was sitting at the Round Table with Connor. "Just before he died, John told Jamie that he would send her a sign to let her know he made it to Heaven."

"You think this angel is the sign?"

"I think there's a huge possibility it is. Not even a possibility. I think it _is_ the sign."

Connor thought for a moment. "We still need proof, though. We can't just take somebody's word for it. Peter's almost done setting the camera units up. Talk to Laura again and see if she'll let us set some up camera units in the house."

****

16:33 Hours

The sky was beginning to darken, the first few stars appearing in the sky.

Peter came back inside the mobile lab and shook out of his heavy parka. "Man, it's getting cold out there. Why couldn't this case be in L.A. or the surface of the sun."

Connor and Lindsay glanced at each other and smiled. "Did you get all the camera units set up?" he asked.

Peter nodded. "All finished. Got one in Jamie's room, one in the hall outside her door, and one in the living room. I just need to relay their feed to the monitors in the lab and we're ready to go."

"Okay. Do it."

"What's that?" Jamie asked. She was sitting on her bed, pointing at the small camera that had been installed above the door frame.

"It's a camera," her mother said, getting a blanket from the closet.

Jamie giggled, rocking back and forth, holding her feet. "Who's watching me?"

"The people who are trying to find out if the angel you saw was real." She unfolded the blanket and brought it over.

"She was real, mommy. She was."

"I believe you. And you know what? I think they do to. They just have to be sure. Now come. Get in bed."

Jamie crawled under the covers, and Laura put the extra blanket over the comforter. She straightened it as Jamie got comfortable, then kneeled beside the bed. "Jamie, are you sure the angel didn't say anything to you?"

"Mm-hm."

"You know, I was thinking earlier. Do you remember what John told you that night in the hospital?"

Jamie's smile faded into a sad expression. She nodded. "Yes," she said quietly. "I remember."

"Do you think maybe this angel is trying to tell you John made it to heaven?"

Jamie shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Do you think the angel might come back tonight?"

The smiled returned, big as ever. "I hope so. I'd like to see her again. She's very beautiful."

"Well, you get some sleep. Tomorrow is Christmas morning, and you'll get to open all those presents that are underneath the tree. Santa should be here anytime tonight."

That seemed to make her smile grow even bigger, and she laughed. "I hope he doesn't fall off the room."

Laura laughed, too. "I hope so, too. Otherwise you might not get what you asked for. Goodnight, Jamie."

"Goodnight, mommy."

Laura gave her a kiss on the head, and got up and left the room.

Connor and Lindsay stood before the row of video monitors, watching the screen showing them Jamie's bedroom. They saw Laura leave the frame, and the light shut off. Peter was sitting in the chair, making some last-minute adjustments to the various camera units set up around the house.

"Let us know if you see anything."

"Will do," Peter said.

"All we need to do now is wait," Connor said as he and Lindsay moved through the lab. 

****

21:21 Hours

As Anton stepped into the Round Table room, Connor made a quick motion to hide something he had been looking at. Not too quick, but just quick enough to arouse suspicion. "Bad time?" Anton asked.

"No," Connor replied, as if nothing had happened. "What is it, Anton?"

"There's been some minor EM fluctuations around the property, but nothing extreme. I'm going out with Lindsay to take a look."

"Okay," Connor said, and sat looking at him, as if waiting for him to leave. "Thank you, Anton. Keep me posted."

Anton nodded, not sure why Connor was acting so strange, but turned and left. As soon as he had gone, Connor uncovered what he had hidden and looked at it again.

Lindsay and Anton walked through the snow, dressed in heavily-insulated jackets and each carrying an electromagnetic detection device. "Are you picking up anything?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Just those minor fluctuations. What do you suppose they could be?"

Anton shrugged. "Atmospheric anomaly maybe? Do you have any Christmas plans for tomorrow?"

"I'll probably go to my neighbor's. They always throw a big party for everyone on the street. What about you?"

"I'll--"

"Anton," she said, looking at her device. "Did you see that?"

He looked at his. "What?"

She seemed shocked. "There was just this huge fluctuation. You didn't see it?"

Inside mobile lab, alarms were beeping at various monitors as the sensors registered major electromagnetic bursts. Peter stood looking at the flashing lights as Connor rushed in. "What's going on?"

Peter looked at the monitors and digital readouts in confusion. "I don't know. There's major electromagnetic activity. The lines are jumping right off the monitors." He made adjustments with some of the knobs, but they had no affect. "It's no glitch. The EM readings are skyrocketing."

Connor happened to glance at one of the interior camera monitors. "Peter. Look." He pointed at the screen.

On the monitor, they saw Jamie on her bed, leaning over to look out the window. The room seemed to be glowing brightly. And then, the light began to move, and Jamie headed out of her room. In the next monitor, they saw her come out and walk down the hallway. A third monitor, from a camera positioned in the living room, gave them a view of the stairs. They saw Jamie carefully walk down the steps, moving towards the front door. They could see the glow began to appear through some of the side windows.

Peter looked at Connor. "It's happening again," he said.

"Grab the camcorder," Connor said, and hurried for the lab entrance.

Coming out of the lab, Peter had to throw up a hand to block his eyes from the bright light. He walked down the steps and stood beside Connor. They both stared toward the house. "My God," Peter said, almost a whisper.

The angel was levitating in the air, several feet off the ground, just in front of the low fence that enclosed the front yard. Jamie ran down from the porch and through the yard, stopping at the gate to look up. "I knew you'd come back," she said. "I knew you would."

The look of amazement never left Connor's face. "Peter. Are you getting this?"

Peter seemed in a trance. "Yeah," he said, snapping together. "Yeah, I'm getting it." He quickly lifted the camcorder to his eye and thumbed the record button.

Seconds later, Connor saw Lindsay and Anton running through the snow, coming around the far side of the house. They, too, stopped and starred. "Oh my . . . " Lindsay started but couldn't finish.

Anton, too, tried to speak. "It's, it's beautiful."

The angel floated back a bit as Jamie opened the gate and came out into the driveway. The angel lowered to the ground. She was beautiful, radiating a golden glow, with white clothing that seemed to flow about as if submerged in water. Her hair moved the same way, too.

Bob and Laura appeared at the doorway in a hurry, stopping when they saw what was happening. Laura put a hand to her mouth. They were both quit obviously mesmerized.

Jamie walked up to the angel, and they smiled at one another. "I knew you'd come back," he said.

"I have a message for you, Jamie," the angel said, to the surprised reactions of everyone. "Your brother wants me to tell you he's doing well. He's in heaven right now, looking down at you and your mom and dad. He wants you to know that he still loves you and yours parents very much. He says to live a full and happy life, and that one day you'll be together again. But for now, he says he'll watch over you every day until then."

Jamie was smiling. The others were staring in disbelief and amazement. As they watched, the angel began to move, lifting from the ground. Peter tilted the camera up, following it as it rose into the sky and began to move faster, until it disappeared into a magnificent burst of light.

Darkness returned to the area, illuminated only by mobile lab lights and the light near the barn. Peter slowly lowered the camera. Jamie ran back to meet her parents in the yard. Connor walked forward a few feet and looked skyward, but saw nothing except clouded sky. He looked back down to see Lindsay smiling at him, as if to say, "It really happened."

He smiled back.

**Epilogue**

Two hours later, the operation had closed. Mobile lab had been disassembled and was on its way back to headquarters, along with lab personnel and equipment. Connor and Lindsay stood on the porch, talking with the Haskings.

"I told you she was real," Jamie said, holding her parents' hands.

"And we saw it for ourselves," Lindsay said, smiling.

"I can't thank you enough," Bob said. "Both of us."

"You're welcome." Connor shook their hands. "We'll let you get some sleep," he said, then looked down at Jamie with a smile. "You've got a big morning tomorrow."

She giggled. "Yup," she said.

They laughed. Laura said, "Thank you again. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Connor and Lindsay said, and turned to leave as the front door closed. They descended the steps.

"Guess this turned out to be a great Christmas after all," Lindsay said.

When they reached the yard, Connor stopped and said, "Almost."

She looked at him. "What?"

He seemed to hesitate, then reached into his coat pocket and took out a small green velvet box, the kind a ring would come in. He held it out to her. "This is for you."

"Connor," she said, "I thought no one was getting gifts for each other this year."

He smiled. "I couldn't resist."

She took it from him and raised the lid. Her mouth gaped. "Connor. They're beautiful."

"You like them?"

"I love them." Nestled inside the velvet lining was a pair of gold dolphin earrings. "They're great, Connor. Thank you so much.."

"Just a way to show my appreciation for you."

"What about them?" She gestured toward Peter and Anton, loading the rest of their supplies into the back of the second Suburban.

Connor said, "I've got a ticket for Peter to fly back and see his family tomorrow, and for Anton to visit his wife and daughter's grave. Anton almost caught me with those, but I had to hide them. I didn't want anyone to know I was giving them something until after we were done."

Lindsay smiled. "That's so nice of you, Connor."

"Well, you're all my friends. I know no one wanted to be on a case on Christmas Eve, so I thought I'd give everyone something that would make them happy."

Something fluttered between them, and Lindsay made a swipe at it with her hand. But then more was falling and they looked up, realizing what it was. It was snowing.

Peter shut the back of the Suburban. "Come on, guys. Let's get out of here before we get snowed in out here."

They looked at each other and smiled warmly, then turned and walked toward the truck.

__

Final log entry. Jamie Hasking's claim that she had seen an angel was real. As it turned out, the angel was a messenger sent by the little girl's older brother, who had died a year ago and told Jamie before his death that he would send her a sign letting her know that he had made it to heaven. Unfortunately for our investigation, we are unable to prove the events were real. Though video surveillance units were set up, playback of each unit revealed all that was present . . . except for the angel itself. Since the angel delivered Jamie's brother's message to her, we suspect there will be no further sightings. Connor Doyle out.


End file.
